It’s only now that works I made while I was at the art school in New Zealand started to make sense. One of these works is Palarell Parking and I think it represent nature of my artistic enquiry. I feel it is still valid and I continue to have timeless relationship with its content.

When I attended The School of Art Institute of Chicago for my MFA, I had a series of long conversation with a professor Francis Whitehead on this work and we tried to look at clues for which it might lead me to understand what my artistic value is.

We came to agree that it was heavily influenced by Japanese culture, and Zen. We started to think about philosophical debate in Zen, illustrated by Koan. She also told me to look at Marcel Duchamp and similarity with Zen ideas with a hope that this might lead to understanding where my questions are coming from.

There are many ideas Duchamp and Zen shares, such as non-attachment, rejection of language and system and poetic use of them. They both try to have a stance that question a stance itself therefore question was shifted from a specific to a whole. Chance is also a common theme that occurs in Zen stories and Duchamp’s works. It is no surprise artist such as John Cage who succeed Duchamp’s lineage looked at Zen seriously in his process of art makings.

Chance and probability is also a way of looking at the world. (Like presupposed idea such as causality) Giving ‘chance’ a thought provides us with an opportunity to look at unknown. Did we really come from small probability of one lucky sperm meeting the egg? In the byproduct of such a small chance, there is something we feel as beautiful.  As human, we sense beauty in unexplainable unknown, such as the birth of a child, sunset, and explosion of atomic bomb etc.
This also creates desire for us to uncover the truth of all things, and drives us to push our civilization.

Another point of interest is – “art and life”. My enquiry includes questions such as – How can art look art our lives and create a relationship with art works and objects that is shown inside white walls with what is happening outside? How does art’s nature of contextulization affect when we talk about life?  How can meaning of art share meaning of life? Can art and life share a place?
(We saw Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interview with Mary Jane Jocob)

The last part is things I have have not yet come to understand what my nature of enquiry is. This part of my questions includes “experience”. I am not sure how we can evaluate experience using our language, but I have huge interest in creating certain feelings with art, in a installation work for a example. Feelings and experience are closely associated. They inform many things such as memories, perception, realities, and so on.

I like looking at these things and to talk and exchange ideas between friends.